


Twelve Percent of Anger

by matanee



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-29
Updated: 2013-04-29
Packaged: 2017-12-09 22:52:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/778882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matanee/pseuds/matanee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>"He didn't know what to say. Again. He always had something to say, he was the greatest stand-up comedist in the world, but now... He was speechless. He just watched the love of his life crying out her heart right in front of him, and cursed himself for not being able to comfort her with anything. The great womanizer had been caught off-guard."</i> </p><p>Post-Avengers. Shameless Pepperony fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Twelve Percent of Anger

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfiction was originally posted a really long time ago on FF.net, but now I decided to upload it here as well. I want to rewrite a couple of my fanfics and put it on here because I want to have the good ones in one pile. It's an old one, so it probably still has a couple of mistakes - be gentle with me, I didn't have a beta back then. x3
> 
> Enjoy!

"Tony!"

Keys tingling, heels knocking, purse flopping, steps getting faster and faster. Tony didn't need to hear the deathly worried and desperate voice to recognize these steps anywhere. He slowly opened his eyes as he sipped from his scotch once more, then he just let the half-empty glass hang in the captivity of his fingers.

He knew he was in trouble, and his true self would've tried to find any loophole to escape this situation. However, this fatigue that took over his whole body set his mind to defense mode instead. He wasn't the one to argue now. And honestly, he'd never felt this exhausted before in his complete existence, which surprised him pretty much. He just didn't have the strength to change it.

Tony didn't need to say anything - his red haired guardian angel found her way to the bedroom in no time, and when their eyes met for a tired, split second, she let out a sharp, high-pitched breath and turned around. She was showing her back to her boss, rising her hand to cover her mouth.

_"Oh my God."_

Tony had to remind himself that he still wasn't the one to argue. He wasn't the one to ask questions, to shout, to cry, to hyperventilate or to have some sort of panic attack right now. The sounds she made - unwillingly or not -, the shaking of her shoulders have told him everything in a second.

He wasn't able to watch it silently and without acting something for any longer. He slowly put his glass on the table right next to the sofa and stood up, letting out a painful but barely hearable groan. He was searching for the right words in his head, but, before he could've said anything, she turned around with the speed of thunder and glared at him. He wasn't far enough to not see the redness of her eyes, her trembling lips and the tears streaming down her face - he just stopped after a few more steps, keeping a safe distance from her.

"What the _hell_ were you thinking?" she asked, her voice breaking by the end of the question. It held more pain than what he ever felt in his life. It was terrible to hear. "Answer me, Tony!"

"Pepper, please... Try to calm down and understand the situation," he raised his hands to his chest, holding them up in front of him so it might protect him. Oh, how wrong he was.

" _Understand?_ " The sharp and sarcastic laughter she made had given Tony chills, and it wasn't the best feeling in the world. Pepper slowly approached him, with the sneer growing on her face. "How exactly?"

"I had to do this, Pepper. I had to save New York, I had to save the world," he answered slowly, not being sure of what was going to happen afterwards. He wasn't ready for another battle just yet. "The government threw a fricking atomic-bomb on Manhattan, and I was the only one who could do this. I couldn't just... let it happen and then... Good night Vienna."

"I'm not talking about _that_ , you moron!" She was yelling already but it wasn't the thing that surprised Tony. More the content of what she was saying. "I'm talking about _this_!"

She took her cell phone out of her pocket and pushed it into his face - her tears still soaking her cheeks, her always delicate, soft hands shaking.

He was facing his own smiling face on the screen, and the text under it clearly said: _1 missed call._

"You were phoning me before your death, but you weren't able to tell me what the hell was going on earlier? You are a damned bastard, Tony Stark!"

Pepper threw her phone onto the sofa and hid his lips behind her palm again. She put her other hand on her hip, trying to hold back the sobs that started to take over her. She couldn't properly talk anymore, so she just lowered her head and tried to collect herself silently.

Tony understood now. It wasn't about him driving the missile into outer space and saving the human race. It wasn't about him sacrificing himself. It was about his ways. And that surely made sense.

How could he believe she was angry for Tony being a hero? It would've been ridiculous.

He didn't know what to say. Again. He always had something to say, he was the greatest stand-up comedist in the world, but now... He was speechless. He just watched the love of his life crying out her heart right in front of him, and cursed himself for not being able to comfort her with anything. The great womanizer had been caught off-guard.

"I'm just curious what were you thinking while you were... doing whatever you've been doing," she looked up again, wiping her tears away. New ones came instead. "What did you want to say? That you weren't going to make it home? Or that I should record Two and a Half Men because you might be late tonight?"

"Peps..." He was sure he had something in mind, but once their eyes met, he forgot anything it was that he wanted to say. He just decided to take a deep breath and shook his head slowly. "I'm _so_ sorry."

"You wanted to leave me... with _this_ ,"she gestured towards her phone on the couch and wiped her eyes a bit more harshly so her mascara was totally smudged. Pepper was sure she looked terrible but she didn't care. She didn't know, but Tony still thought she looked beautiful. Even in this condition. "With a missed call from you. And I wouldn't have died because of that or out of sadness... Only because of the fact that I've never told you how much I've loved you."

Now was the point where he felt really confused. His only excuse could've been his weariness, but it didn't cover everything.

These were tears of relief. She wasn't angry, or disappointed, or afraid, as he assumed.

She was happy.

"I've been trying to reach you ever since. I've been calling you for an hour but you haven't answered your phone. I couldn't reach JARVIS either," she continued, looking straight into his eyes without a blink. Now that she said it out loud, that she confessed, she seemed calmer, but she was still trembling and her voice broke a few times. "I really thought you were dead, Tony. I thought you wouldn't be at home right until I saw you sitting on your damned sofa... Drinking, like you always do, and-"

"Pepper," he cut her off gently, delicately reaching for her face with both of his hands. He stroked her cheeks with his thumbs and soon, her eyes closed. She wanted him to make sure he was alive, to prove it somehow. Because it was still too hard to believe. "I'm not going anywhere."

Only a few seconds passed when he closed the distance between them and planted a chaste kiss on her lips. She inhaled his scent, slowly placing her hands on his chest, pulling him closer. She didn't know when he started to become this important in her life but it was a question for another time. She only cared about how much she loved him, with every fiber of her body, and she didn't want to let him go. Ever again.

It started out as a gentle kiss but it slowly got more passionate and insistent. He could feel her affection, her fear of losing him, and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly in his embrace. Their lips moved in perfect consonance, and even his gentle touches on her bare skin around her waist felt like well placed kisses. She loved this, she missed this, and she missed him. She could feel the depth in their relationship growing even when they were separated for only two days. She has never felt it with any other man before, and that's why she was so in love with this megalomaniac hero in an iron suit.

Because under that suit, he was her Tony Stark. And with her, he didn't need the suit to be loved.

It was physically impossible for them to get any closer. Even after she pulled her head back carefully and looked deeply into his eyes with infinite passion in her own, there wasn't any empty space between their bodies.

"I gave you only 12% of my anger, I hope you know that, Mr Stark," she murmured, already on a stable voice. The old smirk reappeared on Tony's face again, almost making her heart jump out of her chest.

"Then, if we keep ending up in this position, I'm more than thrilled to hear the remaining 88%, Ms Potts."

Yes. It definitely wasn't the same. Yet, somehow, it still was.

Only their relationship could be this impossible.


End file.
